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  • dmarex
  • Level: 3 (27%) 
  • Rank: Mediator
  • Member since: Apr 26, 2005
  • Last online: 09/11/09 5:02 pm PT
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dmarex's Journal

  • 8Dec 09
    Hi guys, I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm very busy with college at the moment and over the next few weeks, so don't be alarmed if my soap guides are not always up to date. Also, if anyone wants to help out, feel free to add info to them. Thanks.
    • Posted Dec 8, 2009 3:20 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 0 Comments
  • 5Sep 09
    So I get back from my trip to find all of my 20 submissions for this person rejected, but the day before I left I had the 20 exactly the same submissions accepted for a different person. So does every single staff person handling the queue coming with their own set of rules? Or is there just that one staff member that is out there to get me? I don't get it, wasn't it enough that my rejected subs have 200 submissions that were rejected unfairly?

    And as if that wasn't worse, my plea for people to put off submitting resulted in over 60 subs waiting in my queue. Heh, I guess I'll do the other half tomorrow. I haven't even checked the cast forms, but I hope they have finally fixed the import section. Also, when does staff plan to delete the episodes we posted in the forum?
    • Posted Sep 5, 2009 5:48 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 6 Comments
  • 23Aug 09
    Surprise, surprise! dmarex makes a blog post after five months of pretty much doing my work and keeping quiet. I haven't been absent that much, but I was occupied by real life more than ever before. I am still here, however, and ain't going away. Nothing much changed here except that the pages are loading even slower than before.

    As for my viewing habits, I'm currently watching Big Brother All Stars (Can I just name Janelle the best BB player of all times?), Big Brother 11 (Finally worth watching after the eviction of a few rats.), The Big Bang Theory II (Comedy at its best), Chuck II, Pushing Daisies II (Another masterpiece that died too early) and I'm watching NCIS again from the very beginning (Poor Kate).

    I finally stopped reviewing The Young and the Restless after doing it for more than a year and a half. I realized that the show turned into utter garbage, which is a shame. Looks like MAB is a total amateur after all, accompanied by Hogan Sheffer and Scott Hamner, two horrible writers. However, if they bring Victoria Rowell back (and that's the rumor these days) I'll have to reconsider.
    • Posted Aug 23, 2009 5:40 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 3 Comments
  • 24Apr 09
    It seemed like eternity, and the constant bugs definitely didn't help, but today I moved to a new level, Kiss My Grits!, a word used on a TV show called Alice which I never watched. It seems nice to finally get something positive. Just as long as I can do my work it's all fine. Thankfully the episode info was restored.

    The guide that is occupying me is The Tribe, which I just recently took over and have already done a huge amount of work on. The guide had 78 episodes missing (merged into one) which was not correct, so I had to re-do most of the episode list, causing my points to go up. The second thing is that ALL episodes had synopsis taken from the show's official site, so I had to take that down too. I also have to add cast and crew to all 260 episodes. This will be a long process, but I'm happy doing it. I acquired the entire show and will be watching it and building the guide as I go along.

    My current TV viewing schedule consists of The Young and the Restless, The Tribe and Frasier, and I must admit I'm enjoying every second of each show.

    As for all soap fans---the guides will be updated in the coming days. I also decided to continue reviewing Y&R. I guess it's just in me that I need to comment on each episode. The main reason why I couldn't do it was college and now that I'm free again, I guess I have time for it. Every next time when I don't do it, it will probably be because I'm busy.
    • Posted Apr 24, 2009 11:17 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 5 Comments
  • 19Apr 09
    Dear friends and fellow editors, I've decided to stick around this place just because I want to. It's been my home for so long and I can't just let it go. I found a new guide that I would really like to work on and it has me so excited and interested that I can't wait to do some work, because the guide really needs it.

    As for the soap fans, please bare with me until the end of week when my college tests are gone, and then the guides will be updated. Thanks. (Not that anyone ever complains; sometimes I feel as if though nobody ever reads those guides anyway.)

    Also, there is another change coming. I've written reviews for every single episode of The Young and the Restless from January 2008 to March 2009 and I'm officially done with reviewing. It took up too much of my time; I still adore the show and will be watching it and taking care of the guide, but there will be no more reviews.

    UPDATE: I just got the editorship of The Tribe, one of the shows I loved to watch years ago. The guide is a HUGE mess, all 260 episodes contain copied synopsis, some episodes aren't split in half hour, cast isn't done correctly... it'll be a long hard work, but I'll enjoy doing it.
    • Posted Apr 19, 2009 11:58 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 6 Comments
  • 16Apr 09
    Just to give the people that care a little follow-up... I've been very busy lately in my life mostly due to that boring college I'm attending. I've been out of the loop on the soap guides and I apologize for that. I've been thinking a lot (maybe even too much) about leaving this site and it's becoming more clear that I don't have much time left here; not because of the redesign, but just because I no longer care. It gives me big pain to even think about leaving my guides, especially the ones that I had for years and which I worked my a** off on (another weird sentence). It's almost as if losing a part of my life that I'll never be able to get back if I ever leave. The only thing preventing me from leaving is the fact that I fear I might regret this one day. I'll give myself a few more days.

    And sorry to everyone about the drama, but it has reached a point where I'm too tired for this.
    • Posted Apr 16, 2009 7:16 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 7 Comments
  • 7Apr 09
    Just to tell all my contributors.... I will be off sometime during this week and return yet the following week, so if you can hold off on your submitting, it would be much appreciated. Thanks. I think I'll use this time off to think once again about exactly what I want to do regarding this site.
    • Posted Apr 7, 2009 2:45 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 5 Comments
  • 30Mar 09
    Wow. They are really trying to make this site as hard to use as possible, aren't they? The episode pages are so hard to navigate it's freaking me out. Why did they have to go ahead and do this? Didn't they receive feedback about how bad their show pages were?

    It's almost as if they are trying to kick me out of this site.

    And I'll leave. I'm on the edge. Years of service for nothing.

    EVERYTHING that this site was about is now hidden. We come here for episode summaries, notes, trivia, quotes.... and now instead we have all of that hidden (even episode numbers, codes, airdates are all pushed aside). I do not want to click ten thousand times to get to the info I need.

    And no, I am not overreacting.
  • 15Feb 09
    I finally found time away from college to work more on this site, and the one thing that makes me happy is the fact that I don't see that many bugs. I am still waiting for that darker version of TV.com, but they haven't published that yet. I wonder when that will happen. I have to do some catching up with my soap guides, so I guess I'll be quite busy here. I am also still working on removing all of those wrong episode titles.

    I had another encounter with an editor that rejected my valid submission and resubmitted it under his own, then claimed that he had submitted it before I did (even though I submitted it two days ago and the editor did it today). It's just another lesson to all editors---do not submit to guides that are not yours, chances are your submissions are going to get rejected whenever the editor feels like it.

    The thing that brought a smile on my face was watching Dead Like Me: Life After Death. I won't get into it too much, but just seeing the gang back together brought so much joy that I was happy the entire day, which is quite rare. I wrote a recap and a review on the movie. I really hope the DVD release turns out to be a success so there would be a chance to revive the show one day. It all brought back the agony I felt after this masterpiece was canceled in 2004.

    In other DVD news, I recently started watching Frasier and Dharma & Greg and I enjoy both series very much. I'm also watching Season 2 of 30 Rock and the very last season of Alias, both also amazing series. Yesterday I also watched the premiere of Dollhouse. Half the people are raving that the show wasn't good (because they expect nothing but amazing shows from Whedon), but I actually found it quite interesting. Plus seeing Eliza Dushku is an added bonus.
    • Posted Feb 15, 2009 5:52 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 6 Comments
  • 11Jan 09
    Even though we had to wait a long time, the staff finally fixed most of the bugs that have been torturing us for months, and they promised to fix the input bug too. I can't wait to use the tool properly to add cast to my various soaps. I've just been waiting for way too long. Also, I received an e-mail with the newest possible planned design and even the middle of the screen is no longer white, so I'll finally be happy about that. Things finally seem to be moving in the right direction.

    I would still like to see TV.com display how many times each recurring or starring actor appeared in a certain show. Something similar to how IMDB lists appearances on a person guide.

    I did something that I haven't done for months---I submitted info to a person guide. I've submitted over 50 recaps for various actors, actresses, writers or directors that didn't have any biography and I'm glad that all of them were accepted. Of course, when I tried to submit a short biography for an actor that already had an editor, the editor rejected my work because there was one letter wrong in the submission (read: he was worried that I might overtake them with my only submission).

    Of course, there's also bad news. I had just encountered an error that someone made on a soap opera guide dating back to 2004. I'll be very busy with it because every episode from 2004 to 2007 has a wrong episode title. The renumbering tool does not include episode names and now I sadly have to correct EVERY single episode from those years. I think there's more than 800 episodes to go through.
    • Posted Jan 11, 2009 8:04 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 3 Comments
  • 24Dec 08
    I'll be leaving town for a few days, so I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas... I'll be back before New Year.
    • Posted Dec 24, 2008 4:49 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 9 Comments
  • 5Dec 08
    It has been a few months since the redesign launched and if somebody told me we'd still be in the same place we were then, I'd probably go crazy. The site isn't moving to a better place, it's staying the same, complete with a set of bugs, staff that works only on improving something that most of us don't care about, so I'm asking myself: "Why is this site called user-friendly?" Sure, we all have freedom to add stuff to guides, but why must it be so complicated. Why do we have to overcome those bugs to finally have our info posted on the site? Just as I'm typing this, I'm wondering if they could eventually remove me from the site for complaining all the time. That would be 5 years of my life spent for nothing. Hmmmm... I wish 2009 would be better, but we just might expect even more stunning surprises.

    I have been slowly working on the site for a past month or more, but was prevented from doing much work because my real life got quite hectic. And before it gets hectic again, I hope I'll be able to catch up with all of my daytime guides. All other guides are up-to-date, so there's nothing to worry about. I also caught up with my reviews and I must admit that I'm enjoying The Young and the Restless more than the last few years. If there's a soap opera fan out there looking for quality, check out the #1 soap.

    Other thing worth noting are the ratings for NCIS. After six years on the air, NCIS is the strongest as it might be. While other shows do great at the beginning and end up losing their viewership, NCIS is going the opposite way. This ought to guarantee another few years for this show to stay on air.

    My DVD viewing now includes the second season of Veronica Mars and I'm absolutely blown away by the series. I can't believe that I had the DVD for a few years and always chose to pass. The first season was probably one of the greatest seasons I had ever seen---wonderful cast and amazing storytelling. I don't remember when was the last time I was excited about a show like this.
    • Posted Dec 5, 2008 4:00 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 2 Comments
  • 9Oct 08
    Ever since the new design came over, it seems like I've been spending less and less time here, but I'm hoping I'll be able to keep myself entertained enough to stay here. There are literally over a hundred bugs reported and it's all going kind of slow. I haven't been that happy or enticed to come back to this site, but still I kept everything updated.

    With this blog, I would like to let all the soap fans to know that soap guides will now probably be updated each weekend, as opposed to before when I updated it every day. I'm very busy in my private life and will be for a long time, so I'll try to handle most of the stuff on the weekends, or whenever I find free time for it.

    I haven't watched much of the fall season yet, but I did give Survivor Gabon a look and it's quite great to watch it in HD. I plan to watch a few other shows, but I'll wait until a few episodes air and maybe watch it all during the winter holidays. I'm depressed to see how long the ratings for Pushing Daisies and Chuck are. Those are brilliant shows and it's just sad that the viewers don't recognize that. Looks like yet another Fuller show will be canceled too soon. Dead Like Me much?
    • Posted Oct 9, 2008 2:09 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 4 Comments
  • 19Sep 08

    In a sea of angry blogs, why should this one be any different? Aside from five or six people who like the new design, there are more than hundreds of people hating every single thing about the design. I feel sorry for the staff, I really do. It is challenging to make a new design and then end up getting blasted for it. However, sadly, the staff doesn't seem to care one least bit about the users. They should have just focused on fixing the bugs on the previous design and make it into widescreen.

    The thing that hurts me the most is the fact that hundreds of people are complaining on forums and the staff doesn't even blink. They are focused on fixing the usual stuff, but at the very end nobody will be satisfied. There are too many bugs, we can't submit, we don't like the design, then why should we even stay?

    When things like this happen I can't believe that I'm still here after five years and the staff just doesn't care about its submitters. Why did I spend so much time of my life to put an effort. But putting that aside, I can only hope that the white color will eventually change or that the bugs will be fixed. I will cope; I will definitely still stay here, but I am worried about the various users that might eventually depart and never return here.

    I regret wanting a new design; I had a feeling I'd regret it. I don't know what else to say beside asking the contributors to stop adding info to my guides because I can't either accept or reject them. I would hate if I lost my guides because I can't mod them. I'm also very worried that the staff will leave today and return on Monday. That will shake things up even more.

    For all of you wanting to express your opinion, please visit http://www.tv.com/redesign-feedback/board/92653/topics.html.

  • 17Sep 08

    After taking a few more days of peace and trying to decide if I want TV.com to consume so much time and energy out of me, I've decided to still stick around. Sure, I'm young and have a life in front of me, but I don't think I'll ever be able to leave this place. It's been a great resource and duty for many years and I can't wait to see what's in store in the future.

    I planned to do this blog post after the new design, but it's taking ages. Or at least it seems that way. With the new design around the corner, the level of excitement is reaching new levels. Yes, I am aware of the possibility that it might bring more bugs and problems, but I just got tired of this design. I need changes every now and then and this one fits just right. I have nothing against the current design, I still think it's great, but it's time to go widescreen. And hopefully we'll get new tools to work with.

    I've reached Level 92, but I ain't that fond of the emblem. Actually, I hate the way it looks. I am not that big on emblems, but I did get that spring chat one. The only chat that I'm actually interested in will be HIMYM.

    And congrats to Dan for winning Big Brother 10! And to Keesha for getting the jury prize. What a great season!

    • Posted Sep 17, 2008 3:44 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 6 Comments
  • 13Aug 08
    It seems like lately the only reason why I blog is when I have to report a new level. So why should this time be any different? I just reached Level 91, and I'm very proud of the work I've recently done on TV.com. I just love the fact that I have more time over the summer to add more info.

    With help from a new source, I'm continuing to build the Santa Barbara guide, and I'm very proud that the guide is having more info every day. I've already finished the entire eight and ninth season (a 400 episodes worth of cast and synopsis) and soon the entire first season will be over. The guide needs a lot of work, but for once in a long time I'm glad Santa Barbara will have a good source. Most other sites are missing a lot of info, and making a guide for it should help out a lot of fans.

    Meanwhile, I still have a few months worth of episodes of Sunset Beach to overhaul, mostly deleting the cast with tags and adding the cast without them. I'll also soon finish the Spyder Games guide. As for the other guides there is still a lot of work to do, so I guess I should stop writing and continue editing... back to work.

    • Posted Aug 13, 2008 10:07 am PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 9 Comments
  • 19Jul 08

    With a lot of effort, I finally reached Level 90. I can't believe I'm there. It seems like just yesterday I was at the very beginning. With summer in full swing, I have a bit more time to spend here, so many guides are finally getting the overhaul. I'm slowly working on China Beach, I guide I received just a few days ago. I never knew the guide was in such a terrible state. Also, in just a few days I'll be finished with Spyder Games, the MTV soap. I'd give anything to watch that show again. It was amazing.

    What is this emblem about? I never know what a certain level is all about.

    I've been going through my collection of reality shows lately and I'm enjoying every moment of it. With season ten of Big Brother that just started and the first season of Wipeout, I'm also watching the fifth season of The Apprentice, and plan to watch the seventh or eight season of Survivor soon. I don't know why I'm so hooked on reality shows during the summer.

  • 30Jun 08
    Yes, today is my birthday. Not much to say about it, really.

    I've spent the last few days concentrated on my personal life, but now I'm back here. It's going to be a long summer, and I still have a lot of work to do here too. I can't believe that after 5 years I'm still active here. I always thought it would be a year or two, but there it goes.

    Euro is finished, and I'm glad Spain won. Germany definitely didn't deserve to win. Lately I've been watching The Apprentice 4, and it's quite an interesting season so far. I hope I won't regret talking about it, because that's when people start talking about who won. Please don't spoil me, I've had enough of that with Survivor. Heh. Also, while on the subject of reality shows, I enjoyed the first episode of Wipeout. Funny and full of action. A good summer series.

    I recently picked up China Beach, and I can't wait to start working actively on it. Also, I'm now a Level 89: Solid Gold Dancer. I have no idea what this title means.

  • 20Jun 08

    The staff injustice continues... I made 10 submissions (and got a warning that it could be considered mass submitting) to an editor-less guide and the staff rejected my submissions because they were to lazy to scroll down on the link that I provided on my submissions. It's frustrating to deal with the staff recently. Person guides are almost unreachable without receiving a couple of rejections, but now even the show guides (that are in need of heavy overhauling) are unreachable. Where is the justice?

    Also, I'm depressed after the way Croatia lost the game against Turkey. Talk about injustice. To get lucky and lose it a few minutes later... and all because the judges don't know how to do their job in time. And then those depressing penals... I hope Turkey loses against Germany.

    I'll be a bit busy in personal life in the next week, so if any guides lack updates (primarily the soaps) please be patient... I'll handle it all as soon as possible.

    • Posted Jun 20, 2008 2:55 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 8 Comments
  • 31May 08
    Wow. Only a few more weeks until summer officially arrives. It's my favorite time of the year. Even though there's nothing on TV (that's where my DVD collection steps in). I can't wait to spend every day at the beach. There's nothing else like it. My life has been passing by like a thunderstorm. I feel like Christmas was yesterday. I didn't even turn around and it's already summer time. Does anyone know how to stop time? At least for awhile?

    At TV.com, there's nothing to complain about (at least I don't). I like the tool that we can use to reorder the cast section. Now soaps can finally have their active actors listed on the main page, as opposed to how it was before. I got a new emblem, and today I reached a new level, Punky Brewster. I remember watching that show as a kid. Also, I got a new guide, Savannah. I watched that show years ago and still remember it as a great primetime soap.

    The season finale episodes have already aired, but I'm still a little behind. I recently started watching Chuck and Pushing Daisies, and I think I'm in love. Chuck is a brilliant combo of action and comedy, while Daisies is just extraordinary. Being a huge Dead Like Me fan had a lot to do with it. Even now, while I'm talking about these shows, I can't wait to watch the next episode. Are there any other similar shows I could enjoy?

    Update (June 4th): Today I was stunned to find a fair amount of submissions in my queue, and even more surprised to learn it's for Melrose Place, one of my favorite all-time primetime soap operas. I guess the previous editor was retired without his choice. That's my 100th guide.

    • Posted May 31, 2008 5:36 am PT
    • Category: General
    • 10 Comments
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